Sharon Sala - Cold Hearts

Trey kept his distance, giving Mack the space he obviously needed to keep his emotions contained, but at the same time he was worried. He hadn’t heard back from Dallas, so he didn’t know if his mother was okay or if she had flipped out like she had before. He didn’t know if his sister, Trina, had left for work or if she was still at the house, too. Something was up with the two men dying so close together. He could feel it.

* * *

Mack kept his gaze fixed on a dirty spot on one of the windows directly across from where he was standing and didn’t look away. He’d spent countless hours in this place growing up. It used to be his favorite place to spend time with his dad, but once they took his father’s body away, there would be little need to come back other than to tie up loose ends.

He and Trey stood without talking while the world went on around them. Through the window he could see cars driving past, people on their way to somewhere else. A kid rode by on his bicycle. A couple of men parked a few doors down and went into a used furniture store. Mack didn’t understand how life could be so ordinary out there and a living nightmare in here.

Trey kept an eye out for the coroner’s vehicle. When a blue car wheeled in and parked, and a black van with a county logo on the doors pulled in beside it, Trey pointed. “They’re here.”

Mack blinked.

“I’ll be right back,” Trey said as he strode out.

Mack watched the men getting out of their vehicles. When they opened up the back of the van, a chill swept through him. He could almost feel his father’s presence.

“They’re here, Dad. Just hang on a little longer and we’ll get you free.”

Moments later Trey came back, accompanied by a trio of men, one of whom Mack recognized as Pryor Addison, the county coroner.

Addison knew the Jacksons and was disturbed to learn what had happened to Paul, but he frowned when he saw Mack. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said.

“And he shouldn’t be under that car,” Mack said.

Addison sighed. “You need to step outside, son.”

“No, sir, with respect.”

Addison shrugged and went to work directing his crew as to which pictures he wanted and from what angles, and then circled the car several times trying to decide which side they needed to jack up to remove the body. Until it was out from under the car, there was nothing definitive to see. “So the lift failed?” he said.

“So we assume,” Trey said. “We haven’t moved or touched anything since the body was discovered.”

Addison looked around for the lift controls and had pictures taken of that, too. “Okay, we need to get this car off the body without causing further damage.”

Trey couldn’t get the thought out of his mind that this wasn’t an accident. Carl had already told him there were no prints on the lift control, which made no sense. There should be prints galore. Every time it went up or down someone had to use the control. Now was a good time to test it.

“Do you have a problem with me trying out the lift?” Trey asked.

Mack looked at Trey as if he’d lost his mind. “What are you saying?” he asked.

“I’m not saying anything,” Trey said. “I just need to make sure the lift is inoperable before I call in the fire department to help remove the car.”

Addison shrugged. “I have no problem with that. Either it will work or it won’t, right?”

“Yes, sir,” Trey said, and reached for the control.

The hydraulics kicked in, and the lift began moving up without a hitch.

Mack caught a glimpse of his father’s body and turned his back. Trey had been right. He didn’t want this sight burned into his memory.

The coroner frowned, and then glanced up at Trey. “What made you think to do that?” he asked.

“My officers dusted for prints. There weren’t any,” Trey said.

Mack picked up that something was wrong. “What the hell is going on here?”

Trey held up a hand. “Come outside with me...please.”

Mack left without looking back, but as soon as they got outside, he stopped.

“Talk to me, damn it. That’s my father. I have a right to know what’s happening.”

“Get in my car, Mack. I don’t intend to advertise this, and I expect you to keep quiet about it, too.”

Mack got in the police cruiser, and as soon as Trey slid behind the steering wheel, despite the state Mack was in, he started questioning him.

“What do you know about the wreck your dad was in the night he graduated from high school?”

Mack was struggling with the notion that his father’s death wasn’t an accident and was clearly unprepared for such a seemingly random question.

“What the hell does that have to do with—”

“I don’t know,” Trey snapped. “Can you answer the question or not?”

Mack shoved a shaky hand through his hair. “Sorry. I...I know it happened. I don’t know much of anything else.”

“Do you know the other people who were in it with him?”

Mack was trying to focus on this conversation when his thoughts were on what was going on inside the garage.

“No, I don’t remember. I think there were a couple more, but I don’t know if I ever knew who they were.”

“You know Dick Phillips was murdered recently,” Trey said.

“Yes, Dad told me. He was really upset and—” Mack stopped. All of a sudden the questioning clicked. “Was he one of the kids in the car with Dad?”

“Yes, along with their girlfriends. Dick’s girlfriend, Connie, died that night. She was the driver. The other girl was your dad’s girlfriend, Betsy. The same Betsy who’s now my mom.”

Mack’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Your mom? Your mom was my dad’s old girlfriend?”

Trey nodded.

“What does she say about all this?” Mack asked.

“Nothing. You may or may not know that the survivors were injured so severely that none of them had a single memory of what happened after the actual graduation ceremony.”

“Are you saying someone is after the three of them?” Mack asked.

Trey shrugged. “I can’t say that the wreck has anything to do with why Dick died, but I’m a cop, and having one man murdered who was in that wreck is one thing. Having two dead within the same month feels like more than coincidence to me.”

Mack was stunned.

“Will the coroner be able to tell if my dad was murdered?”

“I don’t know. But if we can ascertain there’s no mechanical fault with the lift, we’ll have to assume someone lowered it on him.”

“I know the company Dad used to maintain it. The information is in his office at the house. I’ll get it to you,” Mack said.

“I’d appreciate that,” Trey said. “When you go through your dad’s things, if you see anything like a journal or a diary, I need to see it.”

“I’ll go through his things, but honestly I don’t expect to find anything. We got real close after Mom died, and I’d swear on a Bible there were no secrets between us.”

Trey nodded.

“I understand, but just keep it in mind, and remember, I don’t want a word of this repeated. If these deaths are related to that wreck, the last thing we want is for the killer to be forewarned that we’ve figured out the connection.”

Mack was shaken to the core. Here he’d thought the worst thing to happen was that his father had died, but to think he might have been murdered seemed worse, almost obscene.

“Understood,” he muttered.

“So I guess you’ll be around the rest of the day?” Trey asked.

“I’ll be staying in Mystic for sure until after Dad’s services,” Mack said.

Trey frowned. “I don’t know when the coroner will release the body.”

“I understand.” Mack glanced out the window at the crowd gathered on the other side of the street. “I never did get the need to witness other people’s grief.”